Daily Number

$2 billion

September 10, 2015

The state Economic Development Authority is slated to consider an additional $318 million in corporate tax subsidies for Camden today; if approved, it will have given out $2 billion in subsidies this year alone, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective.

That will top last year’s record of $1.992 billion, with three months still to go.

What’s more, the amount a company gets in return for a promise of a single job has jumped in the past few years: Now, a company gets an average of $99,000 per job that it either brings or keeps in the state. According to NJPP, a liberal-leaning think tank, the amount was below $30,000 before Christie took office.

NJPP takes particular aim at the generous breaks being given companies that move to Camden. According to NJPP, Camden companies have received $862.7 million in tax subsidies since 2013, at a cost of $259,500 per promised job. Further, 67 percent of these jobs already existed in New Jersey: The companies either moved to Camden from elsewhere in the state or promised not to leave.

One more thing: many of the “net benefit” calculations to the state used a 35 year horizon, although companies are only obligated to uphold their end of the deal for 15 years.